Jane Pauley is an acclaimed American broadcast journalist and author with a career spanning more than five decades. She was born on October 31, 1950, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Richard Grandison Pauley, a traveling salesman, and Mary E. Pauley, a homemaker. She attended Indiana University Bloomington, graduating with a B.A. in Political Science in 1972. She began her broadcasting career at WISH-TV in Indianapolis before becoming the first woman to co-anchor an evening newscast at WMAQ-TV, an NBC affiliate. 

In 1976, Pauley was chosen to replace Barbara Walters on NBC’s Today, where she co-anchored until 1989 — first with Tom Brokaw, then Bryant Gumbel. She then co-anchored Dateline NBC from its 1992 premiere through 2003, before hosting the short-lived syndicated The Jane Pauley Show in 2004–2005. She joined CBS as a correspondent and substitute host in 2014 before being promoted to the permanent host of CBS Sunday Morning, a role she continues today. 

Pauley married Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau on June 14, 1980, and they have three children and four grandchildren. In 2000, Pauley was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and has since become one of the most prominent and respected voices for mental health awareness in the country.